Back to School

Our baby is officially a freshman in high school. That sounds really weird to say. James is in high school! He was dealt a pretty bad hand when he was conceived and has struggled with various medical issues for his entire life. Now here he is, just about to turn 14-years-old and just started high school. Neither Stacy, nor I, imagined he would make it this far. Stacy deserves a lot of credit for the extraordinary care that she gives him, but James deserves a lot of credit, too. I think we could all learn a lot from him. Life has thrown countless obstacles in his way, but he just keeps going. I’m proud of you James. Hope you have a great first year in high school!

Sharing James’ Story

A few years ago, we were interviewed by Nestle Health Science for one of their employee programs. For their “Connections” program, Nestle interviews patients that are using their products, and shares those interviews with the employees as a way for them to actually see the people that are using their products and how it is benefiting their lives. James has been using their Peptamen Junior formula for a long time. Since he can’t eat by mouth, this formula provides all of nutrition he needs through his g-tube.

Here is a shortened version of that interview:

Ever since we had that interview, they have made us feel like family. They took part in the birthday parade we had for James in 2020 because we couldn’t have a real party for him due to Covid. They’ve sent us flower bouquets the past two Thanksgivings. They’ve been following James on Facebook and sent a nice get well soon bouquet earlier this year when we announced that James was going in for surgery to have his ear tubes replaced and may be having his eyes partially sewn shut at the same time. They were unable to coordinate the eye surgery for the same time as the ear tube surgery, so that surgery didn’t happen, which was kind of a blessing, because he didn’t need it after all.

Nestle Health Science recently asked us for permission to share James’ story on their Peptamen website, which we of course said yes to. You can check it out here. Thank you Nestle for providing James with the nutrition that he needs, for welcoming us into your family, and for letting us share James’ story.

Cheers to 25 Years

On July 15th, 1998, I came home from a night of drinking with a friend and decided to check my email before I went to bed. I disconnected the phone from the phone line so that I could connect the computer’s modem to that phone line and dialed out to AOL. Remember those days of dial up internet when you had to listen to all of those weird sounds when the modem was connecting? If you are too young to have missed that era, you’re lucky. It was quite primitive compared to what we have today.

Shortly after the connection was established and I was looking through my emails, the Instant Messenger window popped up from someone that wanted to chat. I didn’t recognize the username, but they said something that caught my attention: “You sound too good to be true.” That person happened to be Stacy, and she was referring to the line in my profile that said that I treat women the way they should be treated. Cheesy and cliché I know, but that line combined with being online at just the right time brought her into my life.

A week after that first chat conversation, and after a few phone calls, we met face to face for the first time for dinner. We each brought a friend with us just in case either of us was a crazy lunatic. You have to remember that that was 1998 when the Internet as we know it was relatively new and meeting people online was kind of taboo.

Now here we are twenty-five years after that first online chat, married with a kid and a dog. As I was writing the preceding paragraphs, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if I would have stayed out a little bit later on July 15th, or if I would have just gone straight to bed when I got home. Would Stacy and I have eventually found each other? Where would I be? Would I be married to someone else? Would James exist? It’s wild to think about. If we turn left instead of right, our future changes.

I guess I got lucky and made the right turn—or was it a left turn—and wound up in the right place at the right time. You can’t see or hear me, but I am raising my coffee mug and saying “Cheers to us. Happy 25 years Stacy. I can’t wait to see what the next 25 years bring.”

Other Randomness

I think I have covered all of the bigger things that have happened over the past month, but there are a few smaller items that I wanted to throw in.

James went to work with Stacy a few weeks ago and got to meet a few more dogs that she walks…

One of Stacy’s friends mention that they had gotten an Apple AirTag for their special needs child so that they know where they are at all times. We thought it was a good idea since James is going to high school, so we bought one to put in his wheelchair. As long as James is in or near his wheelchair, Stacy can use an app on her phone to locate him. The AirTag app only works on iPhones, but there are other similar devices like the Tile that work with Android phones, or the Samsung SmartTag that work with Samsung phones.

James will be turning 14 in about a week, and we’ll be celebrating this weekend. I should have pictures from the party up early next week. In years past, we have asked guests to bring a gift, not for James, but one that will be donated to our local children’s hospital. This year they can either do that, or they can make a donation to our van fundraiser. I suppose they could do both if they wanted to, but that is up to them. If you would like to donate to our fundraiser, we would really appreciate it.

https://helphopelive.org/campaign/21730/